Thoughts on purchasing a car in Canada an importing to US

[fowler]

There are couple cars in Canada that are interesting to me — I've been considering the option of purchasing one and importing it to California.

Assuming that emissions and what not are fine, does this feel like a good idea? Not sure what resale value might be in the future since everything is in KM/H.

[Brad_T]

I purchased my M4 last month in Ontario from a BMW dealer and they asked if I was exporting the car. I said I wasn't but you may want to check into that if you are inquiring at a dealer.
Canada offered the ultimate package which was not available in the US so may make a car with that option more desirable regardless of the metric speedo.

[AlmondJayRoM3]

Originally Posted by fowler

There are couple cars in Canada that are interesting to me — I've been considering the option of purchasing one and importing it to California.

Assuming that emissions and what not are fine, does this feel like a good idea? Not sure what resale value might be in the future since everything is in KM/H.

Depends on the car. I was going to do it for an FD RX-7 8 years ago but ended up finding something stateside. If it’s for an F80, I wouldn’t. It is entirely too common and it doesn’t take effort to find good examples right now.

Do your research because it isn’t as simple as buying it, driving to California, and registering it.

[fowler]

It's an LRG CS, so somewhat special. I've looked into the requirements for bringing one back and they see relatively minimal.

Honestly, feels like it might be a pita down the line..

[dms-01]

Originally Posted by fowler

It's an LRG CS, so somewhat special. I've looked into the requirements for bringing one back and they see relatively minimal.

Honestly, feels like it might be a pita down the line..

Relatively easy to do from what I have read. Hell a ton of US dealers are buying Canadian cars off auction and selling them stateside solely based on how the strong the US dollar is.

I am sure you have googled it already but call up CBP and USBP and talk to them about what you need to do.

[Spd Ylw F80]

I imported my F80 from Canada 6 months ago to Washington state and it really wasn’t that bad.

You’ll just need to get the Letter of Compliance from BMW and you’ll pay 2.5% duty based on book values when you cross the border (I had a nice border agent, he made me pay it in roughly $50k value). Not sure how it works if you use a broker though, I did all the work myself and drove it across the border.

Not sure on the resale value side, but I agree that if it’s a rare spec in particular, I don’t think it would scare off potential buyers when you go to sell it. Personally, I’m from Canada and plan to go home at some point with the car so I never really took it into consideration.

[fowler]

Dumb question but are you able to change the odo units to be mph instead of kmh on an f80?

[kcha]

Originally Posted by fowler

Dumb question but are you able to change the odo units to be mph instead of kmh on an f80?

I had to get the US spec gauge cluster when I imported back in 2009, so I'm sure you can get mph one for F8x

[fowler]

Los Angeles